Well, she never did go bionic but we have had our share of medical adventures in recent months! She’s dealing with recurring urinary tract infections right now, but the recently-diagnosed Inflammatory Bowel Disease is mostly under control and she’s generally peppier than she has been in months. Lots of throwing toys around and “woofing” to be played with.

Well, it’s been a while! I’ve been busy taking Sasha on long walks and cleaning up after her shenanigans in the house–she ate a bar of soap 2 weeks ago (and then threw it up) and followed that by chewing on dental floss. Luckily, neither incident required a trip to the vet.

It’s been 8 weeks since she got the cortisone shot and went off her pain meds, and she’s a new dog. Frisky, fun, playful, and, yes, even slightly evil at times. We’re not sure how long the cortisone will last (we didn’t expect it to last this long), but we’re going to enjoy our energetic dog while it lasts.

Once the cortisone wears off, we may be able to do one more shot before finally having to go through with the surgery. I talked to the vet a few weeks ago and he said to check in monthly, or sooner if she starts to show signs of pain. So far, so good!

Sasha and I are back in the office today! She’s a little sleepy still, but was very pleased to be back at work and out on a couple short walks. Too soon to tell if the cortisone is working, but I’m hopeful we’ll have some idea by the end of the week.

The MRI results were good–no tumors, no masses, no pinched nerves, no slipped discs.

But upon further examination of both Sasha and the x-rays taken today, the vet decided that he was not 100% convinced that the problem is in the hip. Part of the issue is that she shows more pain than indicated by the amount of dysplasia and arthritis shown in the x-rays. That doesn’t mean it’s not a hip problem–we all know she’s a sensitive beast–but it means that it’s harder to tell where the pain is coming from.

So the next step is a test. He gave her a cortisone shot in her hip–if that makes her feel better, then he’ll feel more certain that the pain is originating in the hip and we’ll reschedule the surgery. And if it doesn’t make her feel better, then we’re back to square one.

I’m frustrated by not knowing, but very happy to have her home tonight.